


The vortex to oblivion

by ToxicTeaparty



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Gen, Phanfiction, phanau
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9617402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicTeaparty/pseuds/ToxicTeaparty
Summary: X-men AU. Dan is a mutant on the run from an underground organisation. He was tired and sick of running and ready to give up, until he met fellow coffee loving mutant  Phil Lester.





	1. Chapter 1

1\. 

Dan was terrified. He thought he’d outrun them, he thought he’d finally be free. But they keep coming, while yelling words like ‘freak’, ‘mistake’ and other terrible things. For the past few weeks they’d always been at his heels or lurking in the shadows, always watching, always trying to learn how to beat him down. Dan was scared, as he walked down the cold sidewalk with his hoodie on, keeping his head low. He felt this heavy feeling in his chest and pangs of doubt. He thought that he would never be able to outrun them, so maybe he should just give up, give in. Just surrender. Just let them do whatever, so that his secret wouldn’t get out any more. Dan didn’t want to be afraid anymore. Dan didn’t want to hide anymore, Dan didn’t want to be looked at like that ever again, the way his ‘friends’ looked at him when they found out. Dan didn’t want the lectures, didn’t want the stories about how his kind had ‘wrecked’ his friend’s life, how this life wouldn’t be good for him. Dan was tired, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat. Before he knew it, he was sat down on the ground, with his back to a wall, and tears rolling down his face. Dan was done, he couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t do it. He buried his head between his knees and cried, he wished for that heavy feeling in his heart to leave, wished he could be free again, go back to six months ago and do it all over again, do it differently. Dan was sick and tired and just wanted it all to be over. He didn’t have the energy anymore, he couldn’t muster up any if he tried.

Dan looked at his grey gloves with, examined the tattered, almost circular holes that were on both palms of his gloves and tried to decide if he was going to give into them, or if he was going to do it this time, even if he didn’t want to. He’d tried to convince himself that he couldn’t, he knew he could, he always could.  
Dan felt them growing nearer, felt them creeping up on him. He didn’t move because he was done. 

He was sat on the gritty, cold sidewalk and he felt people coming at him from both sides. He looked up and saw his old ‘friend’ walking toward him, wearing a black trench coat and several incredibly loose golden rings. He laughed and said, “Greg, are you trying to look shady or is his who you are now?”

Greg rolled his eyes and took a gun out from under his arm and said, “Come on Daniel, are you going to come quietly or am I going to have to call my boys and make a little noise?” 

Dan threw his head back and closed his eyes. Greg arched his eyebrows and stood silently for a minute… he wasn’t used to Dan not putting up a fight. He put his gun to Dan’s head and said, “Well then, let’s go Daniel. No time to waste.”  
Greg was slightly annoyed when Dan refused to move and shot his gun into the air, and said, “Come on you little shit.”

A tall man then walked up to Greg and Dan. He looked at Greg the way he looks at bad coffee. Dan saw Greg’s eyes fill with panic as the tall man approached them. The tall man took a sip of his Starbucks and said, “That’s not a very nice thing to call someone you know.” 

Greg, now visibly twitchy said “Come on Philip, I need this.” and looked to the ground with a mix of fear and guilt on his face, but made sure not to move the gun off Dan’s head. 

Phil now looked slightly annoyed, but gave Greg a large smile. He then set his coffee down and suddenly, the air went dry what looked like tornadoes appeared on his hands. Dan didn't understand what was happening, he stared in disbelief at the mutant, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

“Your boss and I have an understanding, do we not?” he said, walking closer to Greg.  
Greg slowly tucked the gun under his arm and nodded. 

“Good. You can leave now.” Said Phil, extinguishing his tornadoes and picking up his coffee. 

Greg quickly nodded and bowed slightly and ran in the opposite direction. Phil smiled, adjusted his glasses and helped Dan off the sidewalk. 

Dan dusted off his clothes and said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Phil laughed and said, “Really? It looked like you were about to be executed by señor Stupid .”

Dan laughed, shook Phil’s hand and said, “Hi, I’m Dan.”

Phil smiled and said, “I’m Phil.”


	2. New Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, glad to see a few of you liked Chapter 1. Hope you enjoy this one. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

2\. 

They walked down the street while Phil started speaking at a million miles an hour, “It’s Philip Michael Lester actually, but you can call me Phil, or Philly. Actually don’t call me Philly. Oh! You must be hungry, Greg doesn’t really give his victims enough time to eat does he? Coffee? How does coffee sound?” 

Dan, who was mostly staring at the floor when he wasn’t scanning his surroundings, looked up at the clearly hyperactive man, and said, “Seems like you’ve had enough coffee don’t you think?” 

“Nope, nope, no such thing as too much coffee.” Said Phil. He paused for a moment, looked like he was thinking and then suggested they go to a bakery near his place. Dan raised his eyebrows at the invitation, but accepted because according to Dan, as long as he was with Phil, he was safe. He saw the way Greg was trembling at the sight of Phil. Phil had power, the power to keep him safe. 

They walked down the dingy road and Phil didn’t shut up for a second. Phil didn’t ask any questions, and Dan was thankful. Last thing he wanted was to answer a billion questions about why he left home, his powers or how long he’d been on the streets. Dan just didn’t want to speak, which was good because Phil wasn’t going to give him the chance. He told Dan about the amazing rolls the baker bakes, he told Dan about the little old lady who lives in his building that reminds him of Mrs. Hudson from Sherlock, which was good because then he was Sherlock. When he heard that Dan had never watched Sherlock, he went into and in-depth explanation about the masterpiece that is Sherlock. He went on and on about the time he made Greg wet his pants once, and Dan, for the first time in months, genuinely laughed. 

Their walk was long, and Dan was so into their conversation that he didn’t realise where they were going until they reached a tall fence which was plastered with ancient signs that told them not to enter. 

Phil, casually opened the gate and almost walked in until Dan stopped him and said, “You live here, in Griffin Park?” 

“Yeah.” Said Phil, clearly wondering why Dan was so worried. 

“The accident… Grey Griffin Chemical plant. You can’t live here, you’ll get sick.” Dan said. 

Phil laughed and said, “It doesn’t affect people like us. Something in our DNA, Dr.G explained it to me. Don’t remember what exactly he said. But bottom line, we’re fine. Come on.” 

Dan still stood outside the threshold and said, shuddering, “People like us?” 

“Come on Dan, Greg wouldn’t even look at you if you weren’t a-.” Phil said before he was interrupted by Dan. 

“P-please… don’t say it. Don’t say that word.” Dan said, shuddering, breathing heavily. 

Phil, sympathetic to what Dan was feeling, patted his shoulder, cleared his throat and said, “So, not many of us in this place…most of them are people who can’t afford to live anywhere else. It’s almost like a little town, we have a grocery store, the bakery. The buildings are not in the best shape, they’re not immune to Grey Griffin juice. Greg and his goons won’t step into this place. It’s safe. The people, the people are the best part though… little rough around the edges, but they’re survivors, they’re tough, funny and they’re loyal. So if you want to live here, you need to be loyal.” 

“Wait- who said I wanted to live here?” Dan said defensively. 

“Oh, sorry. Just assumed you were…” Phil paused for a second, thinking about what he should say next, because he didn’t want to say anything to offend Dan. After a few seconds, he said, “Looking for a place to lay low for a while. Y’know, until Greg stops sniffing around.” 

Dan looked at Phil, he was surprised and was starting to get little suspicious. That feeling of safety was slowly starting to fade. ‘A normal, well-meaning person doesn’t just go around inviting people to live with them; a normal person just rescues people, has coffee with them and sends them on their way. This is a trap’, he thought, ‘It was some elaborate trap to capture him and cart him off to their boss.’ He decided it was pointless to keep thinking about why Phil was inviting him, and just asked him, “Why’re you doing this?” 

“Doing what?” 

“Inviting me to live with you.” 

“I don’t know. For all I know, you could be a cannibal. Maybe I like living dangerously, with potential cannibals. Maybe it’s because we have the same haircut.” Phil said giving him a large smile. He then dropped the smile, looked Dan in the eyes and said, “or, maybe it’s because I’m trying to be a decent person who’s trying to help you out because I know what it’s like to be in your shoes.”

Dan still didn’t fully trust him, but his options were limited, so he took a look at the outskirts of the city, and he walked into Griffin Park.


	3. Griffin Park

3.

From the gate, there was about forty feet of plain dry land, and beyond that were the buildings. They were not very tall, ten to twelve storey buildings at the most, with rusty fire escapes. Most of them had at least a little bit of exposed brick in quite ugly looking patches here and there. The buildings were all grey, every single one of them, which was a detail that Dan found was a bit strange. The roads in-between the rows of buildings were narrow, had potholes and were slightly damp, which again Dan found to be strange because the city hadn’t had rain in days. As they began to walk further into the neighborhood, the buildings started the get lively. There were clotheslines hanging from window to window, some people were growing flowers in their fire escape, there was surprisingly tasteful graffiti on the buildings, the smell of baked goods, rain and flowers mingled to form a lovely concoction of smells. There was a cold, but pleasant breeze blowing, and Dan could hearing people talking, laughing, shouting angrily. Dan felt it was strangely beautiful in it’s own special way. He was bursting with so many questions, but decided to go with, “Phil? Why are the roads wet?”

Phil kind of paused for a second, as if trying to think of what to say and said, “Water, it helps me with my ability. So people tend to keep it slightly damp. It’s misguided idea, but it reassures them.” Phil suddenly stopped outside a tiny shop. It had glass windows, decent lighting and a couple of tiny tables, and chairs outside the shop. “This is the bakery. You can grab us a table, while I grab us some rolls. ” 

Dan sat down at one of the tiny tables and thought about Phil’s ability. What was it exactly? Dan wasn’t able to get a clean look when Phil rescued him. They just looked like mini tornadoes.  
Phil came back pretty quickly and before Dan could ask him anything, he launched into explaining the town, “We don’t occupy the outermost buildings because we don’t want people to know we’re here. Not that anyone comes to Griffin Park anyway. Better safe than sorry. This is Baker street, because of this bakery. How amazing is that? Baker Street! I live on this road, on the fourth floor of this building. Anyway, Dr. G owns the town, some people rent and some people get to live here for free if Dr. G thinks they're worthy.” 

Dan was barely digesting the information because he was busy devouring that amazing cinnamon roll. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten. I think I need a private moment with this roll.” 

Phil laughed and said, “I know right? Come on lets go.” 

They walked up the narrow staircase to Phil’s floor and as they were about to get into the apartment, a little old lady came up behind them and said, “Hi Phil, who’ve you brought to your Philly pad?” 

“His what?” said Dan, almost unable to contain his laughter. 

“His Philly pad dear. It’s what he calls his apartment.” 

Phil, turning red from embarrassment, said, “Thanks for that Mrs.Hudson . This is Dan.” 

She gave them a cheeky little smile said, “Carry on dears,” and walked down the narrow staircase. 

They entered the apartment and it was fairly simple, a living room, connected to an open kitchen, there was a hallway straight ahead, across the room. The hallway had two doors on the right and one on the left. The entire apartment was covered clearly worn out. The navy carpet and the walls looked like they once used to be white. The living room had a tiny T.V, the window that led to the fire escape, a decent sized beige couch and a black bean bag. The kitchen had black cabinets, a stove, a coffee maker and a microwave. Dan also noticed that the apartment was filled with houseplants. There was one by the door, there were tiny ones on the counter, and there were some on the fire escape. 

“It’s nice.” said Dan, awkwardly standing at the doorway. 

“Come in, make yourself at home.” said Phil as he pulled off his jacket and plopped himself down on the couch. “I promise I’ll give you a tour, just not right now. It’s been quite a day.” 

“Thanks.” said Dan as he pulled his hoodie off and sat down on the black bean bag. 

Right at that moment, a slightly tan girl with straight, medium length brown hair, wearing a printed shirt and jeans walked out of the hallway and into the room, holding a large brown bag. She seemed startled by Phil’s presence, but managed a half-hearted smile and said, “Hi. Just picking up some things.”  
Phil returned her smile and said, “Of course.” 

She seemed to only then notice Dan, went over, shook his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Alice.” 

“I’m Dan. Phil is helping me out of a tricky situation.” 

Alice gave Dan the same half-hearted smile and said, “Nice to meet you Dan.”

She nodded at Phil and said, “See you tomorrow.” She paused at the doorway and said, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Phil said, with a gloomy, lost in thought expression. 

“Your girlfriend?” asked Dan, clearly confused by Phil's sudden change in mood.

“It’s complicated.” said Phil, making tiny tornadoes appear on his finger tips and immediately extinguishing them. 

Dan sensed that Phil didn’t want to talk and he didn’t push him. He knew a thing or two about not wanting to talk. He decided he would ask Phil about his powers and Greg and Greg’s boss tomorrow, for now they would watch T.V. in silence.


	4. Beginnings and Endings

4\. 

Dan ended up falling asleep on the beige couch while watching T.V with Phil. He woke up alone, and immediately freaked out because for a split second, he forgot where he was. He sat up, and almost didn’t notice the neat stack of clothes next to the couch on the floor. There was a bright pink sticky note on them, which said-

‘You can go back to looking like a walking funeral tomorrow, when I do laundry. For now, experience the full spectrum of my closet.’

Phil wasn’t kidding when he said full spectrum. Underneath the black skinny jeans was a bright, multi-coloured flannel shirt. Dan laughed, picked up the stack of clothes and headed into the hallway. He walked into the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in forever. His hair was surprisingly not too long, but it was curly, a fact which Dan hated. He pulled off his shirt and noticed all the little cuts and scars and examined his large cuts to make sure they were healing. Dan took his time in the shower and finally came out for breakfast. 

Phil laughed when Dan walked into the living room and said, “You look so much better.” 

“Ha-ha.” said Dan as he rolled his eyes. 

He sat down next to Phil and watched T.V with him until he felt it was alright to talk and asked, “What are your abilities exactly?” 

Phil was used to this question, he sighed and said, “Well, I am somehow able to control all the water in the air and from surrounding water sources and turn it into these whirlpools,” Phil then created a mini tornado in his hand and said very firmly, “Yes, whirlpools, not tornadoes. This is what whirlpools look like inside water. I am able to extend and control them to a certain extent. I can increase or decrease the velocity depending on how much damage I need to cause. I need water sources to do this, without water, I’m useless.”  
He quickly extinguished the whirlpool and it just vanished, no splash. It just vapourized.  
Dan, his eyes wide, said “That is so cool.” 

Phil then looked at him expectantly and then Dan said, “It’s hard to explain…it’s easier to show you.” He looked around the apartment and finally picked up the empty Hello Kitty mug beside his foot. “Do you care about this mug?” 

Phil, clearly interested said, “No, Mrs. Hudson gave it to me as a joke.” 

Dan took a deep breath, placed the mug in his right hand, and put his left hand a few inches above the mug. He took an other deep breath, and as he exhaled, a pink conical ray of light shot out of his hand and engulfed the mug. In a few seconds, the mug was gone. 

Phil just stared at Dan’s hand for a full minute before saying, “You can shoot pink glittery vortexes out of your hands that make things disappear?” 

“Yes…” 

“THAT IS AMAZING. WHERE DID THE MUG GO? OH MY GOD! YOU DIDN’T EVEN NEED MY HELP WITH GREG. THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER SEEN!” Phil was jumping around the room now, shooting the most random questions at Dan, who was happy that Phil wasn’t terrified and slightly terrified of Phil. 

“I don’t know where the mug went. Which is why I needed your help with Greg, I can’t suck a person into a vortex, and not know where it goes.” 

Phil sat down and said, “What if you need to vortex a person?” 

“What’d you mean?” said Dan, slightly worried. 

“Never mind.” 

Phil spent the next twenty minutes making Dan make random objects disappear in Dan’s pink glittery vortex and Phil still jumped every single time. Suddenly, the door swung open, Alice walked in and said, “Phil, we need to talk. Now.” 

Phil glanced at Dan, who quickly said, “I’m going to get a cinnamon roll.” 

Dan grabbed his little bag and left the awkward situation as soon as possible. 

As Dan was walking down the stairs, he ran into the little old lady from yesterday and said, “Good morning Mrs. Hudson.” 

“You know, my name isn’t Mrs. Hudson. It’s Ms. Tyler Bow.” She said with much pride. 

“Tyler Bow?” said Dan as he wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. 

“Yes dear. Run along now.” she said as she hurried up the stairs. 

Dan quickly ran down to the bakery, and was immediately assaulted by the smell of freshly baked goods. He went up to the counter and met a small, clean shaven, but surprisingly gruff man. He handed Dan the cinnamon roll, and as Dan reached into his bag to take out his last bit of money, the baker said, “You Phil’s friend?” 

Dan nodded.  
“Well, your money’s no good here. It’s on the house. Least I can do.” He said, before disappearing into the back. 

Dan enjoyed his cinnamon roll outside and decided to go back around twenty minutes later. Dan walked up the stairs, and almost immediately heard Alice shouting, “- JUST BRINGING HOME STRAYS?”

“He needed help.” Said Phil in a loud voice, he wasn’t shouting, he was speaking loudly to be heard. 

“THAT’S WHAT YOU LOVE ISN’T IT? BEING PHILIP THE SAVIOUR! YOU LOVE ALL THE ATTENTION. YOU LOVE BEING THE HERO OF THIS TOWN. YOU PUT IT OVER EVERYTHING. YOU PUT IT OVER YOUR FAMILY, OVER A CAREER….” 

“Do you really think people like me can just have a career? Be a bloody banker or something?” 

“YOU DON’T EVEN TRY. YOU PUT IT OVER US! DO YOU THINK I WANT TO LIVE HERE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE? IN GRIFFIN PARK? DO YOU THINK I WANT TO RAISE OUR CHILDREN HERE? YOU HAVE A PROBLEM PHIL!” 

As she was shouting, Ms. Bow, grabbed Dan’s hand from across the hall, and pulled him into her apartment and told him to wait there until she left. 

“DO YOU WANT TO RAISE OUR KIDS HERE?” 

“Wait a minute… who said anything about kids? Do you really want little Freaky Phils?” 

Her voice got quieter and she said, “Maybe not.” She opened the door and said, “You’re a great hero Phil, just not a great boyfriend.” 

Phil quietly said, “I love you though.” 

She sighed and said, “I love you too.” 

She walked back into the apartment, and they spoke too quietly for Dan to hear, and a few minutes later, she left.  
Dan waited for a little while, and had tea in Ms.Bow’s surprisingly messy apartment. 

He walked back in to see Phil leaning against the fire escape railing. He seemed to notice Dan walk in and gestured for him to join him. They stood side by side for a few minutes until Phil said, “We’re taking a break for a while. Me and Alice”

Dan, felt horrible, he felt like he triggered it, he couldn’t think of anything to say, so he said, “I’m sorry.” 

“Nah, don’t be. It was inevitable. Thought it would happen way sooner. She loved it you know? All the hero stuff… the powers, the admiration. It’s messed up, the person I used to be is in love with the person she used to be and we were both too stubborn to accept that those people are gone. We were like two ghosts trying to hold hands. Trying, but never quite being able to…” 

Phil didn’t finish his sentence. After they got off the fire escape, Phil went back to normal, better than normal. Phil looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt like he was floating, free.


	5. New goals

5\. 

The initial euphoria of finally being free had worn off. Phil was lying in bed, awake and filled with regret. He didn’t know why he regretted letting Alice go; he hadn’t loved her in a long time. He knew that the last few months of their relationship had been rocky and filled with screaming matches or long patches of them not speaking to each other. They’d been living together for a year when Alice decided she wanted to move back to her old apartment, when she decided she couldn’t take it anymore. 

Alice was beautiful, funny and adventurous. Too adventurous… Phil had to catch her every time she decided to jump off a building (metaphorically of course, but sometimes literally). Phil started thinking about their relationship, Alice had asked him out first, Alice kissed him first, Alice decided when it was time for her to move in, when it was time for her to move out and when it was time for them to break up. Phil realized that he hadn’t been living in that relationship…he’d just been letting it happen to him. Phil finally realized why he was so unhappy in that relationship, because it wasn’t a relationship. 

He got out of bed and strolled into the kitchen. He turned on the light and started going through his cupboards, looking for some cereal. He finally found some and turned toward the living room to notice that Dan wasn’t asleep on the couch. He ran into the living room and looked out the window to see Dan standing on the fire escape. He released a sigh of relief and went to join Dan. 

“Can’t sleep?” asked Phil, offering Dan some cereal. 

“Nightmares.” said Dan, quickly wiping his face with his sleeves. “No thanks, not hungry.” 

“Want to talk about them?” 

Dan shook his head and continued to look out at the buildings. Phil nodded but couldn’t bear the silence and said, “We’re going to see Dr.G tomorrow.” 

“Dr. Griffin?” Dan asked in a low voice 

“No, Dr. Griffin died a long time ago, during the accident. This is his apprentice, it’s Dr. W actually, but he prefers Dr. G, for his first name.” 

“Why do I have to see him?” asked Dan, slightly panicking. 

“Don’t worry, he’s not crazy! Well, he is kind of crazy, but he won’t do crazy tests on you or anything. Mostly just a medical check, to make sure you’re not dying from some kind of rabies that Greg might’ve given you. He would also be fascinated by your powers and he might be able to find out where your vortex leads to. It’s a long shot, but worth a try.” 

“Okay.” said Dan, visibly calm again. “What can you tell me about Greg’s boss?” 

“Well, first off, he’s a racist, scared, bloody little idiot. He’s against people like us. So, he grouped up another bunch of racist, scared, bloody little idiots to form a gang, it’s become kind of a mafia now. They call themselves the Silver Steeds. Cause, y’know horses are the natural enemies of Griffins or something. I’m actually kind of honoured he named his little group with reference to Griffin Park, since it’s under my protection. Anyway, he’s a fear-monger, feeds on people’s fear of us, and uses it to turn them against people like us. He tracks down and kills people like us. Well, he doesn’t track anyone now, all he does is sit on his ass. His boys track people. It’s slowly becoming a large operation, he sends people out of town to look for mutants… which is where I’m assuming Greg found you?”

Dan nodded, and Phil continued-

“Okay. So two years ago, The Silver Steeds were all over Griffin Park, harassing the citizens and much more. They were tracking me at the time, but didn’t know how powerful I was. When they finally caught up to me, I put down a few of his guys and he’s been dead scared of me since. We struck up a deal, they leave Griffin Park and never touch anyone who’s under my protection. If they do so, I leave them alone. If not… well, you don’t want to know.” 

“What’s his name? The boss’?” Dan asked. 

“Johnny Ortega.”

 

Dan looked down for a minute, trying to process all the information. Dan finally said, “What about the others?” 

“What?”

“Well, you protect everyone in Griffin Park… what about the others? They’ve got to be tracking others, killing others!” 

Phil remained silent for a few seconds and then softly said, “I can’t protect everyone by myself.” 

Dan didn’t say anything for a few minutes. 

He sighed and said, “Were you serious about the offer to live with you?” 

Phil gave Dan a big smile and said, “Of course.” 

Dan returned his smile and said, “Good. Now you won’t have to face him alone, we’re taking this bastard down. Together.”


	6. Dr.G's Magical Menagerie

Dan woke up the next day to Phil singing in the shower. He groaned and put his pillow over his head . When that didn't work, he lay awake on the couch and waited for Phil to stop singing. He thought about the events of the previous night, and immediately freaked out.'He wasn't ready to fight a mob boss! He couldn't live with Phil! Could he even trust Phil?'  
He took some deep breaths, calmed down and told himself that it was just cold feet. He just hadn't lived with anyone in a long time. 

The rest of the morning went like any other morning. They drank coffee and ate cereal. Dan had to wear another one of Phil's shirts and he made a mental note to try to buy some more clothes. 

Around eleven o'clock, Phil said, "Come on. It's time to go to Dr.G's magical menagerie." 

"Dr. G's what?" 

"That's what he calls his lab." 

"Of course. That's totally normal."

It wasn't a very long walk to the lab. All the roads in Griffin Park lead to the lab. The lab was this large castle like structure. It was grey, like the rest of the buildings, pretty damaged like the rest of the buildings, but it was built like an old English Castle. It had a mechanised drawbridge and four large turrets. Well... Three and a quarter turrets, one was almost blown to bits. Dan realised that the turret was probably the scene of the accident. 

Dan, to break the silence, said, "Why the hell is it built like a castle?" 

Phil laughed and said, "According to Dr. G, Dr.Griffin had an almost creepy passion for castles and dungeons." 

Dan laughed and said, "Kinky." 

"Oh you have no idea." 

They walked up to the entrance and the drawbridge dropped by itself. Phil walked in and Dan followed. The castle seemed empty and they could hear the faint voice singing. 

Phil opened a door and walked down a ridiculous amount of stairs until they finally hit a large steel door . The singing stopped and it also opened by itself and they were instantly bathed by a slight pink glow. The room was so large that they couldn't see the end, it had a high ceiling, and whatever parts of walls weren't covered with posters, sketches or scribbles were white. Among the assortment of posters and drawings and scribbles, Dan noticed Iron Maiden, Bowie, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Misfits dominated the wall. There were large work tables, which were covered in papers, guitars, computers, microscopes and a bunch of science crap that Dan couldn't identify. 

A man walked up to them from a distance. He had short orange hair, wore round sunglasses, a blue suit, a white shirt and a black tie. He was much shorter than them. Well, everyone was shorter than them. 

He held out his hand for Dan to shake and said, "Hi, I'm Dr.G. I usually don't dress like this, only when I'm meeting new people or singin." 

Dan, clearly confused by the entire situation, mumbled something that sounded like 'nice to meet you' and shook his hand. 

"Welcome to my magical menagerie. A menagerie is a place which holds wild animals for display and that's what I do. Metaphorically of course. My thoughts are the animals. They're scattered all over the place. They're young animals. Wild and free. "

Dan looked over to Phil, giving him an, 'is this guy okay?' expression. Phil just smiled. 

Dan jumped when he felt a something brush up against his ankle, and saw it was a cat. A bright pink cat. It was completely pink except on it's face, which was white. 

Dr.G picked up the cat and said, "Meet Lola." and waited for Dan to pet it, and Dan did. "also, if you don't like cats I'm going to have to ask you to get the fuck outta my menagerie." 

" I like cats." 

"Good." he said as he put Lola down. "Now, Phil's told me about your ability. Let's see it." 

Dr.G held out a coffee cup, Dan took it, shaking slightly. Dan made the same conical ray of pink glittery light engulf the coffee cup. Within a few seconds, it was gone. 

Dr.G smiled, took off his sunglasses and said, "Alright Dan, let's get started."


	7. The Stake-out

Phil waited outside the little infirmary in Dr.G’s seemingly endless menagerie for about a couple of hours until Dr.G came out of the room and announced, “Your friend is in perfect health! Kinda weird, considering he’s been living on the streets for the past couple of years, but whatever.” 

“A couple of years?!” 

“Yeah a couple of years. Moving on, Dan’s vortexes… They remain a mystery.” 

“Mystery how?” said Dan as he walked out of the infirmary. 

“Well, I assumed you’re vortexes were a destructive force… that they break things down into little pieces. They don’t. They definitely transport whatever you hit.” 

“Wait… where do they go?” said Phil, running his hands through his hair. 

“I don’t know. Wherever the objects go, it's outta range. None of my devices can tell me anything. They just don’t respond. It’s like the objects just disappear into oblivion. It might be some kind of black hole-…” 

“Or pink glittery hole!” said Phil, because he desperately wanted to break the tension. 

“Sure, why not. Look kids, it’s gonna take me a while to figure out what’s happening exactly. Go out, have fun, save some people. Do some super-human stuff.”

Phil was so glad to hear those words. Being locked up in that godforsaken basement, even for a few hours was incredibly annoying. 

They quickly walked out of the castle, and Phil felt like he could breathe again. He started walking toward their apartment, when he heard a camera click behind him. 

Dan laughed and said, “Sorry. Dr.G just gave it to me… for being his lab rat.” 

“Ah yes, his famous guilt gifts. You chose a polaroid?”

“I like physical objects.” 

Phil gave him a quick smile and continued walking. 

"That lab is huge!" said Dan. 

"Yeah, its the size of Griffin Park. I mean, it's built directly below Griffin Park and it covers the entire place." 

"That's mental." 

"Yeah, you have no idea how mental it can get. You up for a stake-out tonight?"

“A stake-out? Sounds fun, if not extremely terrifying. Who are we stalking tonight?” 

“My very best friend, Greg.” 

Dan shuddered when he heard the name, and said, “Greg? I thought you left him alone.”

“Well, circumstances change. So, Greg hangs out at this club, Genetic Electricity. It’s this disgusting piece of crap now, filled with Ortega’s guys or people that think like him. So, what we’re going to do is-…” 

“Wait.” Dan interrupted. “We’re staking out a club filled with people who are against us? Then what happens? Are we going to kill Greg?” 

“Calm down. They crap they play there is so loud, I doubt they can hear the outside world. No! We’re not going to kill Greg! What’s the matter with you? We’re going to drop him off at the police station like a nice little package. He would face a few years on drug charges alone.”

Dan took a few deep breaths, and said, “Okay. Let’s do it.”

They went home and Phil went over the plan with Dan at least ten times before they left the house. They would go to the club, wait outside until Greg came out. Phil explained that Greg didn’t really have many friends due to his less than wonderful personality. Greg would come outside, Dan would vortex his gun, Phil would use his methods to make Greg pass out, then they would drop him off at the police station. Easy-peasy.

Dan was terrified on their walk to the club. This was Greg, the Greg that chased him for months, the Greg that almost shot him in the head, the Greg that made his life a living hell. He wasn’t excited or happy that he was getting revenge on the little shit, he was scared that he has to face him again. Phil noticed that he was jittery and kept asking him if he was sure he could vortex a gun off somebody, and Dan kept convincing Phil that he could. That’s all he did for months when Ortega’s boys were chasing him. Dan was still scared and he knew that he was going to freeze in action, he knew it.

They finally got to the club. It looked seedy in every cliché way imaginable. It had tacky neon signs, loud music. The building was two storeys tall, and not in very good shape. Dan and Phil stood in an alley opposite the club and waited. 

After a few minutes, Phil sighed and said, “This place used to be so fun.” 

“Really? Phil Lester, were you a party animal?” Dan said mockingly. 

“Yup. Me and Dr.G , every weekend. It was the best… except on foam Fridays. Don’t go on a foam Friday. Especially not in a white shirt.” 

Dan laughed and said, “What happened?” 

“Well, the foam got my shirt wet and everybody could see my nipples. It was horrible.” 

Dan laughed again and said, “I mean to Genetic Electricity, you spork.” 

“Well, Johnny’s brother-in-law bought it.” 

“What? Why?” 

“Johnny and I were kind of in a Cold War situation.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.” 

“It doesn’t matter. I was never a good dancer anyway.” 

“Look, it’s him.” said Phil in a more hushed tone. 

It was him. He was wearing his usual dark coat and gold accessories. He was swaying slightly. 

Dan was terrified, he felt his heart beating, he felt like he couldn't breathe, like he couldn't do it. But none of that mattered. The minute Phil said, "Let's go.", he was up on his feet, following Phil.


	8. Police? There's been a major accident.

8.

Phil walked toward Greg swiftly and Dan had to almost jog to keep up with him. They came up behind him, and Phil tapped him on the shoulder. Dan was sure Greg was definitely on some mind-altering substance or a mixture of many, because when he turned around and saw Phil, he didn’t run or cower or beg. Instead he smiled and said, “Heyy Philly.” 

Dan was puzzled because he didn’t immediately pull his gun on them. It gave him more time to think about the situation and his heart started beating faster than it ever had. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, like he was losing his grip on the room. Before he knew it, he was on the floor, gasping for air. 

Greg immediately started laughing and said, “Woops, looks like your back-up’s gone. Remember the last time we were here Philly? That was a great night. I’m disappointed you didn’t call me after.” 

Phil rolled his eyes and said, “You know why I’m here.” 

“Oh yes. Let me guess, my time’s up? Whatever. Why didn’t you call that week? Didn’t have as much fun as I did? Was I too clingy? Is it the jewellery? You can tell me if it’s the jewellery. Your boy Daniel doesn’t like the jewellery either.” 

“Greg…” 

“Shush. Let me finish. Great night. You were here with that guy with the red hair. What’s his name? The doctor? You, him and his little punk rock girlfriend.”   
He paused, and smiled like he’d had an epiphany. “ Dr. and Mrs. G. They’re a cute couple, G and Lindsey. We never could beat them that dance-off. How is Lindsey? Oh wait, I forgot…”   
He laughed, pulled out his gun and made a dramatic, fake shooting motion on the right side of his head. 

Phil, fuming with rage, took a deep breath and said, “Screw. You.” 

Dan, still on the ground, saw his chance. He saw Greg waving the gun around, too occupied with Phil to even notice him. He took a deep breath, steadied his nerves and sent a shot of pink light directly to Greg’s gun. 

Greg, stopped mid-sentence and said, “For fuck’s sake. Your weak little method of fighting back’s getting expensive Daniel. Remind me to send you a bill.” 

Dan, taking deep breaths, got up off the ground and said, “I don’t think I’m going to do that.” 

“That was a special gun Daniel. I made my first kill with that gun. Ortega gave it to me. I’ll never forget what he said when he handed it to me, ‘Hey Grego, shoot the bitch’ and I did. You know this particular bitch Philly. She thought she was being brave, she thought she was protecting you. She never cracked, she didn’t say a word we could use. Pretty impressive. It was stupid, but it was impressive. She thought G was coming to save her, she thought you were coming too. But you never showed up did you? Wait, you did. A little too late. Did he ever forgive you?” 

Phil, now visibly red, muttered, “Shut up.”   
“She was weak, she was an idiot. She actually thought the two of you would save her? She deserved-.”

“SHUT UP. STOP FREAKING TALKING.” 

Then, out of nowhere, a huge, blinding pink light filled the street, and the only sound that could be heard was Dan’s loud scream. After the light was gone, Dan and Phil were left alone in the street, with Greg nowhere to be seen. 

“Dan what did you do?” Phil whispered. 

Dan, on the ground again, said, “I don’t know.” 

“Did you just…” 

“I think so.” 

“We have to go. We have to go now. There’s no way in hell they didn’t hear your scream.” 

Dan felt like his legs would no longer respond, and couldn’t get up. His vision was blurred because of the tears that were rapidly filling his eyes. Phil pulled him up and dragged him along as they ran through the streets. 

Dan eventually came to his senses after a minute and ran with Phil, but didn’t let go of him. They ran in the cold, to Griffin Park and didn’t say a word. Once they were safely in their apartment, Phil sat down on the couch and said, “Do you realize what you’ve done?” 

“I just killed someone.” Dan said in a small voice, staring off into the distance. 

“Yes, you’ve just killed a major arse. But you’ve also done something worse. A murder like that, in front of so many witnesses… Dan you’ve just declared war on the Silver Steeds.” 

“What? We’re not ready yet.”

“We have to be. We’re going to war with Johnny Ortega.”


	9. The Secret Origin of Lindsey Way

9\. 

“Phil we can’t. We can’t do this. I can’t do this! I just freakin killed someone!” 

“You just transported him.” 

“What?” 

“Remember? The vortexes aren’t destructive. They transport stuff.” said Phil in a totally inappropriate, calm tone. 

“Where? Where did he go? Wherever he went, will he even be able to survive? He’s in some deep dark hole in space and I’m the one who put him there! I took a man off the face of the planet Phil! I may not have stopped his heart, but I killed him.” 

There was silence for a few minutes after that. Dan stood on the fire escape and didn’t care that it was raining, didn’t care that there was thunder and lightning all around him. 

After a few more minutes, Phil went to the window that led to the fire-escape, and said, “He deserved it.” 

Dan didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to make excuses. He didn’t want to make what he did okay. He knew that Greg was anything but an innocent victim, but that doesn’t make it okay. 

“If anyone deserved to die in a deep dark hole, it was him. Especially after what he did to you, to Lindsey, to a hundred other people.”

Dan, refusing to look at Phil, kept looking ahead and said “Who was she?” 

“Lindsey Way,” said Phil as he smiled at the thought of her “She was a badass. She was like us. She was a mutant. She could manipulate the air.”

“Like Storm?” asked Dan. 

“No, not really. She couldn’t control the weather…just the air around her. It’s hard to explain. She could fly. She could throw a car across a room by manipulating the air. She called herself Styrene… as a tribute to this British musician.” 

“That sounds amazing.” said Dan, as he turned toward Phil, and sat down on the fire escape, in the rain. 

“She was. She came to Griffin Park five years ago, because she was scared and she wanted to understand her powers. Dr. Griffin helped her out. He trained her, and he helped her understand. She didn’t go to the X mansion. She didn’t trust it. Too much chaos. She was amazing at what she did. She lived here too, a few buildings away. I’m the savior of Griffin Park Dan, but she was the protector. She kicked many asses. She saved these people and kept them safe… everyday. She would fly around everyday and people would know that they were safe.”

Then Phil walked away from the window, took a few deep breaths and grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen.   
“I’d been living in the lab for a year when Lindsey showed up. I was glad for the company. She was funny and witty and unapologetically herself. She wasn’t interested in me, but I understood. Dr.G was an apprentice then, he ran most tests and spent the most time with us. Just a few days in, Dr.G and Lindsey were annoyingly flirty. Just a few months later, they were completely, head-over-heels in love. There was so much love, music and madness in their relationship. They were perfect. They got married three years ago on the roof of this building.” 

Phil was smiling, closing his eyes and trying to remember every single detail of those times. Then his smile dropped as he said, “A year after the wedding, Ortega and his boys were annoyed. They were tired of losing. So they came up with a plan. Back when Genetic Electricity was decent, Lindsey used to hang out there a lot, drink, and gather info on Ortega. One rare night, when Lindsey was actually drunk, they grabbed her. From what I understand, she put up a fight. She’s the reason Genetic Electricity looks like absolute shit now. She wrecked it trying to fight them. There were ten people sent to get her… they went home with six. They wanted an exchange. They wanted control of Griffin Park, for Lindsey. We agreed, of course. But they screwed us. They shot her anyway, for fun.”

“I’m so sorry Phil.” 

“Do you see why he deserved it now? He killed one of the best, considerate, and badass people on the planet, just to screw with us.” 

Dan didn’t say anything. 

“You’ll get used to it.” said Phil as he walked away from the window. “I’m going to bed.” 

“Goodnight Phil.” 

‘Get used to it?’ Dan hoped he wouldn’t. The thought that he could get used to killing someone repulsed him. Had Phil killed people? He put that thought to the back of his mind, and walked down the fire escape. He had to talk to Dr.G. 

He ran through the streets until he hit the castle and he banged on the drawbridge for two whole minutes until it started to descend. He ran to the door and down the endless stairs until he made it to the familiar steel door. 

The door opened and a very sleepy Dr.G walked up to Dan. He was wearing a shirt of a band that Dan didn’t know of and his orange hair was all sorts of messy.

“Dan, I don’t have any test results yet. I don’t know where your vortexes lead.” 

“I killed Greg.” Said Dan and then immediately sat down on the floor. 

“What?” 

“We were staking out Genetic Electricity, waiting for him. The plan was to knock him out and drop him off at the station and get him arrested for his illegal narcotics. But he started talking about him and Phil at that club and he said some things about Lindsey and I just lost it. I just sent him into my vortex, into oblivion.” 

Dr.G sat down on the floor and said, “It wasn’t his fault.” 

“What?”

“What happened to Lindsey… it wasn’t his fault.” 

“What’re you talking about? Phil said that they did it to screw you over.” 

“Phil’s wrong. I never told him the truth. He couldn’t handle it. After they got Lindsey, Ortega called Griffin. They told him that it was either Lindsey or Griffin Park. Griffin was a selfish bastard. He said that Griffin Park was his life’s work and he wasn’t going to give it up because of my little ‘girlfriend’. He knew how special and gifted she was. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was his fucking lab. We couldn’t over-power him, it wasn’t possible. The people in here worship him like a god, they would do anything for him. It was his decision to make and he made it. I quit after that. Phil and I needed to leave. Never told Phil because i knew he wouldn't believe me; he puts that man on a pedestal. Six months after that, the accident happened. I inherited Griffin Park and we knew we had to come back for the people. So, we came back.” 

Dan didn’t know what to say, so he just said, “No, it’s Greg’s fault.” 

Dr.G let out a humor-less laugh and said, “Greg might’ve pulled the trigger, but Griffin killed her.”


	10. Green Glasses and 6 a.m. Coffee

“You need to tell Phil.” 

“I need to tell Phil what? That his hero is the guy who stood beside me as I married the girl that he let die, the guy who trapped us in the place that I can’t stand just to screw me over for leaving him, the guy who never did a fucking thing unless it was for his own benefit?” said Dr.G, slowly walking away from Dan. “I couldn’t do that to him. He thinks he’s living in the Emerald City Dan, I can’t take that away from him.” 

Dan didn’t know what to say. There wasn’t anything to say.

Dr. G laughed again. “We could use a drink.” 

“I don’t drink.” 

“Neither do I, but we could use one.” 

Dan felt another attack coming on. They were always different, but he could feel the signs. He felt as if the air was slowly closing in around him and he felt as though the oxygen was being sucked out of the room, all the random buzzing from the machinery was getting fainter. He felt like he was drowning and he felt his heart rate increasing and he felt the tears threatening to fall. He felt paralysed, helpless, felt every breath he took become shorter and shorter and felt like he was completely disassociating from his surroundings. 

Dr.G seemed to know what was happening to Dan and tried to talk to him, but Dan had completely tuned out. He didn’t tune back in until he felt Dr.G’s arm around his shoulder and heard him say “It’s okay, everything’s okay, you’re fine.”

Dan shook off Dr.G’s arm and stood up quickly. He was embarrassed. He’d never had a bad attack in front of anyone. “I need to go.”

“No, you need to stay for coffee.”

“Its too late for coffee. Phil’s probably worried.” 

“It’s 6 a.m. Phil’s probably gonna be in bed for another five hours.” 

Dan didn’t argue. They walked for what seemed like a mile and got to the kitchen. It was bathed in a light orange glow and had very basic kitchen essentials and about seventeen different coffee machines. 

“How long have you been getting them?”

“Since I was sixteen.” 

“Often?”

“Often enough.”

“Dan…” 

“Only when I’m in crowds or in my own head. First time I had one, I made my first vortex. Didn’t exactly help the situation.”

“It sucks.” 

“No shit.” 

Dr.G poured the coffee into two mugs and they drank it in silence for a few minutes. 

“Can we count on you Dan? In this war that you’ve brought to our doorstep.” 

“I didn’t mean to-“ 

“Can we count on you Daniel?”

“Look, clearly there’s something seriously wrong with me and I don’t think-“

“Can we count on you?” 

“No.” 

“No?” 

“No. Look, I’m untrained, unprepared and obviously a liability. I don’t know when I’ll have another attack, or how bad it’ll be or if new threats that could trigger it. This isn’t a fucking movie where I can go and vortex Johnny Ortega’s head off on day two.” 

“So what’re you going to do?” 

“I’m going to help. But there’s no way I’m putting Phil at risk ever again. I could’ve killed him just as easily. I’m going to help but by no means will you be able to count on me.”


	11. Everything That isn't Love

“Dan you’re not a liability. You’re the biggest weapon we have right now.”

“I’m not a fucking weapon.” said Dan as he walked out of the kitchen. 

“Shit- no- wait! Come back!” 

Dan was long gone. He trudged through the damp streets until he got home. He walked in, kicked off his shoes and crashed on the couch. This wasn’t the time for hurt feelings or messed up emotions, this was the time to sleep. 

He was woken up, at around 2 p.m. by Phil violently shaking him awake. 

“Why is Dr.G calling me to check up on you?”

“Probably because I don’t have a phone.”

“He said he was worried you were going to leave, get in trouble. Bloody hell. What happened last night?”

“I told Dr.G about Greg, he was happy, I told him you couldn’t count on me and it ended with him calling me your weapon. So I walked out.”

“Dan… he just meant to say that you’re powerful. Powerful enough to help us, to save us.”

“I almost killed you yesterday. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? I practically vortexed the street out. I could’ve killed you just as easily as I killed Greg.”

“But you didn’t though.”

“Not this time. What about next time? I can’t save you Phil.”

“This is about control. Let us help you. Dr.G helped me understand my powers when I came here. Please, just let us help.”

Dan paused for a second. He couldn’t risk Phil’s life, Dr.G’s life. They protect hundreds of people living in that place. But then again, if he doesn’t do anything, they could all still die. He felt guilt. He felt like it was all his fault. He was the one who brought the war to their doorstep. He had to help.

“Okay. Where do we start?” 

“Dr.G’s place.”

Dan groaned and complained and tried to convince Phil to train him himself. But an hour later, they were standing at the familiar steel door, waiting for Dr.G to open it. Dan was understandably nervous. 

The door finally swung open to reveal Dr.G in his suit saying “I’m so so so sorry Danny. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”

“It’s alright. We were in an emotional place. Onto business?”

“Oh! Right. Of course. I figured out what the trigger is for your vortexes. You can of course produce them at will. But the truly powerful ones come on only during physical fights. I thought that this was due to the adrenaline rush. But, I was mistaken. After our conversation yesterday, I realized that the trigger is fear. I want to change that.” 

“How?” 

“Well, there’s a fairly simple but obvious technique. I had a friend who used to claim he communed with the spirits of the undead. But he didn’t channel these spirits. He said he used to tune out everything that wasn’t them.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“I want you to produce massive vortexes when you’re experiencing positive emotions. You’re more in control of your actions when you’re experiencing positive emotions rather than negative ones.” 

Dan just stared at Dr.G but remained silent, so Dr.G went on- 

“Phil told me something that really changed everything Dan. He said the entire street was engulfed in your vortex. But only Greg disappeared. You unconsciously made sure that Phil wasn’t sucked in. If you could learn how to control that…” 

“I could control the damage.” 

“Exactly.”

“And I would be safe. Even when we fight side by side.” Phil chimed in.

“Alright. Phil, take him to the training observatory please. I will be there shortly.” 

Phil started walking and gestured for Dan to follow.

“It’s basically just a giant white room with a camera. We obviously can’t be in the room, so we have to use the observatory.” 

“That’s okay.” 

It really was just a large white room with around six cameras around it. Suddenly Dr.G’s voice came on from seemingly invisible speakers. 

“Okay Phil get out of there. Dan, I need you to sit comfortably. Tune out the wars , the hurt, the pain. Tune out everything that isn’t love.”


	12. Discoveries

Dan closed his eyes. 

Everything that isn’t love?

What was love to Dan?  
His parents?  
Sorry, his adoptive parents?**  
Tara?  
Probably not. The last time he saw her, she was crying and screaming and yelling at him to get out of their apartment and not come back. He thought she would understand, never made that mistake again.  
Louis?  
Maybe. Dan couldn’t say that Louis didn’t try to be okay with it. He left too though. They all did. 

Dan needed to get back on track, he could feel himself losing his grip on his emotions, he could feel the vortexes fighting their way out of him. 

Right then a voice came on through some speakers - “Dan-ny yo-u ok?”

Dan managed a faint thumbs-up as he took some deep breaths. He needed to tune it all out. He tried to focus on the kindness he’d been experiencing for the last week - Phil saving him from Greg, offering him a place to live, the baker being kind enough to give him a free roll, Mrs.Hudson rescuing him from Phil and Alice’s epic showdown, Dr.G trusting him enough to tell him the truth.

He focused on how he felt when he falls asleep on Phil’s couch- warm and safe. He slowly started to produce a vortex, gradually increasing the size until it basically engulfed the entire room. He opened his eyes, he was inside his own vortex. 

He didn’t see pink, he didn’t see glitter or a faint light or anything that Phil described. He saw stars against a dark sky, what looked like two enormous moons, and dead trees. 

Before he could take in his surroundings and figure out where he was, he realized that he was feeling light-headed and felt like he was going to pass out any second, and he did, extinguishing the vortex. 

He woke up in yet another colourfully lit room in the lab, to Dr.G wiping something off of his face, with a worried but curious look on his face.

“What happened G?” 

“Nothing... You produced a really big vortex and you were inside it, and you passed out. So, did you feel more in control?”  
“A little. But I saw what was in it G! Its funny, I always thought that the vortex lead to nowhere, like some deep dark corner in the vacuum of space. But it leads to a planet, a beautiful planet. I mean, most of the vegetation was dead, and the sources of light were dim. But guys...it leads somewhere.” 

“Danny that’s incredible!” 

“Yeah, that’s why I need to go back.”

“Um… that’s not happening Danny.” Said Dr.G apologetically.

“Excuse me?” 

Phil got up, his face showed that he was visibly concerned.

“No. You’re not doing that again. Not for a while.” he said. “You’ve been out for five hours. You were in your vortex for what? Like three seconds? It drained you Dan! Any more time in it could kill you! You can’t go back in until we figure out where you went.” 

“No Phil. I don’t think you realize how huge this is. Another planet! I was on another planet and I came back!”

“It could kill you!” 

“Ortega could kill me!”

“Ortega could kill us all! We can’t have you galavanting off to alien planets.” 

Dan just looked at Phil and Dr.G with utter disbelief. 

“Dan. Please. You can go back, just rest and let G do some tests.”

“You’re right. But I need to get out of this place.” 

“That’s totally okay Danny, just leave your jacket and shoes. I can trace particulates. There are extra sneakers right by the door.” said Dr.G, visibly sympathetic. 

“Right. Whatever you require doctor.”

“Come on Dan, I know a place.”


	13. Persephone's Garden

The two walked out of Dr.G’s lab and walked toward nowhere in particular in silence. They walked side by side, neither knowing what to say, neither having any particular interest in saying anything. 

Phil made a few turns and led them down a narrow alley. 

“Where are we going Phil?” 

Phil didn’t answer. 

The tiny alley eventually ended in an old, intricate, locked gate. Phil unlocked it and pushed it open to reveal a garden. 

It was probably the weirdest garden that Dan had ever seen, almost like it was weird for the sake of being weird. It was walled in on all four sides by the grey buildings, except the tiny gate. There were normal garden things like hedges, flowers and grass. But there were odd things like unnaturally colourful toadstools and mushrooms, tie-dye creepers that were climbing up the walls, rocks and soil that looked like the galaxy had fallen to earth. At the center of it all, there were two chairs and a table that were made of glass.

“Stand back.” Phil said while making a whirlpool appear in his hands. He started making it larger and larger until it was above the garden, and slowly let the water rain over it. “I like it best when it’s just rained. The smell of wet dirt and all that.” 

He walked over to the chairs, waved his hand over them, made a tiny whirlpool and extinguished it immediately, drying the bench. 

“What is this place?” asked Dan as he walked around, touching all the plants, almost not believing it was real. 

“The only piece of greenery you’ll see for miles. Dr.Griffin built it. It was for his wife, in case she decided to come join him. She never did. He gave it to me, when he was alive. Even G doesn’t know about it.” 

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Dan said, “I’m not going back until Ortega is in the ground or in custody.”

Phil almost looked relieved “Thank you so much Dan.”

“So how do we accomplish that?” 

“Well, Ortega’s main business is catching and killing mutants. But he finances it by selling knock-offs. Designer handbags, clothes, belts, you name it. They’re bloody good. We can’t go after his knock-off business, because his lawyers are bloody good too. They never lose a case, copyright infringement or alleged assault. Everything is above-board. His thugs are technically on his company payroll, it’s all technically legit. According to the law enforcement, he’s an upstanding citizen with only slightly questionable products.” 

“So how do we prove it’s him?” 

“Well, even if you pay a hundred people to be smart for you, doesn’t mean you stop being an idiot. He has this journal, more of a scrapbook really, a detailed account of every single mutant victim, complete with pictures of them being detained in his private prison. It’s like a reminder, an ego boost for him.”

“How do you know this?”

“Well, he tried to make an entry about me. Villains need to stop it with the monologues if they ever want to succeed.” Phil laughed a little “Well, he keeps it in his office in his ‘manufacturing plant’. The office is below the plant, which is already heavily guarded. We ideally need to get into that office, get the journal, and get out. Then we anonymously drop it off at our friendly neighborhood police station.” 

“Well, that sounds easy.” Dan deadpanned.

“Hey! At least we have a plan.”

Dan was quiet for a few minutes. “When do we do this?”

“When you recover. A couple of weeks, I guess.”

“And then into oblivion.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, please comment below letting me know what you think. any and all suggestions and notes are appreciated.


End file.
